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YEMEN: Another anti-government protester killed in clash between factions

February 19, 2011 | 11:55
am

Another anti-government demonstrator was killed in the Yemeni capital, Sana, on Saturday, the 10th day of clashes between protesters demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down and those backing his 32-year hold on power.

Foreign news agencies in Sana, where five protesters died earlier in the escalating confrontation, reported that the latest casualty was a student shot by government backers as they burst onto the university campus wielding guns, clubs and rocks. A reporter for Agence France-Presse was quoted by Al Arabiya network as saying the body of the student, with a gunshot wound to the neck, lay on the ground as pro- and anti-regime groups battled outside the university that has been a rallying point for Saleh opponents.

Shots rang out from both sides of the clash, the Reuters news agency said, the first reported use of firearms by the protesters.

About 1,000 Saleh opponents, inspired by the success of Egyptian and Tunisian pro-democracy activists in ousting their longtime leaders, chanted for an end to the president's reign ahead of his promise not to seek re-election in 2013. Saleh supporters, who numbered less than 300, called for negotiations to restore order in the county.

--Carol J. Williams

Photo: A Yemeni anti-government demonstrator on Saturday shows the palms of his hands with graffiti that reads "leave" as protesters call for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa. Credit: Gamal Noman / AFP / Getty Images